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Citi seeks Washington backing

CITIGROUP executives are spending the weekend trying to persuade the US government to give them a vote of confidence before stock markets open tomorrow.

Shares in the financial-services giant dived 60% last week as investors lost confidence in the bank that has $2 trillion (£1.3 trillion) in assets and operations in 140 countries across the world.

Emergency meetings led by chief executive Vikram Pandit began on Friday with a series of calls to US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson and his expected successor Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Among the options discussed were the sale of parts of Citi's business, a move Pandit is against, and a public endorsement from the government or a new financial lifeline.

The bank received $25 billion from Washington last month and now has liquid assets of $75 billion. But the cushion has not been enough to halt fears that